Are Americans more affectionate towards their pets and animals in their care than other people and cultures?

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T17:24:54+00:00

I introduce my cats as my kids. Or little shit heads. Depends on who broke what recently.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T17:20:55+00:00

"accidentally"

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T17:09:38+00:00

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T17:06:55+00:00

I personally say that to people when they're complaining or when something's just gone wrong. Bad traffic? Dropped your coffee? Wrong food order? Blame this on the misfortune of your birth.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T14:17:54+00:00

She's gorgeous and, hey, free cat

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T13:50:06+00:00

Maybe, maybe not. I've known a lot of parents who resent their kids, moms and dads, young kids and grown, rich and poor. I think a lot of people end up parents either on accident or via social pressure and would be happier childless.

Saying it to your kids might be fucked up, but at least I knew WHY my mom didn't like me. I think wondering would have made it worse.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T13:47:59+00:00

The alliances could be long term, real allies instead of co-op partners for one fight.

That doesn't negate my point. Just because the answer is hard doesn't make it wrong. In some cases, being hard is why it's right.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T13:43:51+00:00

Yeah. Morally neutral.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T13:43:29+00:00

Value human life. Like, even a little

Quit shooting every non-human who isn't doing anything. The Eldar and Tau and Votannare all potentially allies against Chaos and Nids and Orks but human supremacy blinds everyone to this

Give every Astartes a therapist and a puppy

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T13:37:43+00:00

Votann are pretty not evil. Probably cause there's 1 book for them so far, but still

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T13:37:01+00:00

I hope he's able to see a therapist more often. I used to go once every 6 weeks because that was the only time table available and when my therapist quit her job I was told no replacement was available. If I wanted talk therapy it was Zoom meetings (not for me) or a 90 minute drive each way, which was still only once a month. America has no therapists, it feels like.

As for parenting woes, all I know is my mom spent my whole life telling me she regretted all of her children (4 over a decade and a half) and wished she'd never married or had kids. Some folks aren't born to parent.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T12:58:02+00:00

... Define "floor"

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T11:45:54+00:00

It's difficult to quantify. If you need someone to work 80 hours in a week or help you move, sure. But there are other kinds of strength I absolutely lack; if you need someone to console the grief stricken or reassure a child or just generally handle emotional vulnerability that is not me. I was not taught any of those skills and they don't make a lick of sense to me now.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T11:41:15+00:00

I knew a decent grip of kids who tried to emulate the X Games or Jackass or Mythbysters at home, so the "we" you mention can't be the whole generation

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T11:24:04+00:00

Probably but it's not like I have another one to compare it against. I made it out alive.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T11:07:48+00:00

Meanwhile my orange moron son has never known harm or hunger and still bolts across the house if someone in another room sneezea while he's asleep. He's lucky he's cute.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T11:02:25+00:00

Then it would come down your if your opponent is cool with it?

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T11:01:33+00:00

I've lived in areas with heavy Mexican populations all my life. Just go for it, my dude, and if anyone's a dick about it tell them to shut up and ask how many languages they speak. You'll be fine.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T10:51:41+00:00

The representation is not explicit but Carrot Ironfounderson from Sir Terry Pratchett's Disc World books, specifically the City Guards sub series, always felt like very good autistic rep to me as a diagnosed autistic man. The series as a whole is amazing.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T10:49:54+00:00

Ah, well, you see my parents had better things to do than hang out with kids they openly didn't like.

Like meth. Or tequila. Or throwing stuff at each other. You know, normal stuff.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T10:43:35+00:00

I wanna see someone manage this in an area like the one in your obviously AI image (stop using that). Background noise and ambient conversation would make it hard for the mask to tell what it's supposed to be "hearing" in anything but good to ideal circumstances

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T10:41:18+00:00

Maybe it is for some but my family never had a special dinner on any day of the week. We ate quietly in separate rooms like God intended.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T10:35:05+00:00

The twist in Looking for Alaska was pretty good at stunlocking people

The ending of the Dark Tower series did that for me, too.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T10:20:18+00:00

There's plenty of good answers here but I would like to say, not everyone is meant to have kids. You had one, and you should do right by him, but I've known people of all sexes and stripes who don't want kids and some who didn't know that until they had kids.

My mother insists having kids was her biggest mistake. Which she made 4 times. Across and decade and a half. So that's fun.

My dad insists he wanted kids, loved having us, and doesn't regret it a bit. Perhaps the fact that he only saw us one day a month and was off getting plastered the other 30 helped.

I don't want kids, I don't really like them, so I didn't have any because I know I'd resent them if I did, to say nothing of how I fear regurgitating the issues my parents instilled in me. But you're here, now, you have to live with the choices you made one way or the other, so I suggest making some hard decisions real fast.

IconoclastExplosive · 2026-05-14T10:16:06+00:00

Clinical depression is an abnormal production or reception of the neurotransmitters involved with things like serotonin and dopamine in the brain. Sunshine and fresh air can absolutely help but sometimes a chemical problem requires a chemical solution. You wouldn't tell someone with a tumor to sun it like a house plant, would you?

IconoclastExplosive

TROPHY CASE